The Story of Floyd Johnson
by Smonorkith
Summary: Floyd Johnson: Lone Wanderer, BoS Knight, Do Gooder of the Wastes. Floyd's life was going well, he was helping rebuild the wastes as his father had dreamed of, that is, until an incident with some raiders changes his life completely. Original story set in the Fallout universe, was uploaded once long ago, now I'm rewriting it. Please review :)
1. Chapter 1

Floyd regained consciousness slowly. Something didn't feel quite right, and it took him a moment to realise what; he was hanging upside down. Wondering where he was, he looked around anxiously, vision still blurred slightly. In the haze, he could just about make out that he was in some kind of shack and, judging by the smell, it was a raider shack.

"Sleeping beauty awakes at last," a figure said. His voice was harsh and grating, obviously a raider.

"Don't talk about our guest with such sarcasm; you do know who he is right?" The second voice was a stark contrast, well spoken with a southern drawl.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But after that job he pulled in paradise falls, I just wanna' break his neck," the raider replied.

_Shit. _Floyd guessed what had happened now. They'd been tracking him for weeks, starting just after he wiped out most of paradise falls. "I knew I should have finished Eulogy when I had the chance. Fuck!" Floyd spat.

"Now, now, there is no need for such language; especially not inside the house of God," the southern man chastised. Floyd looked around to put a face to the voices. Noticing two raiders to his left he turned his head to the right to see the polished leather shoes of an impressively built man, dressed in a pristine black and white striped suit topped off with a black trilby, rimmed in white. "Now rest a while Mr. Floyd." The suited man raised his leg and brought it harshly on Floyd's face. Swinging from side to side with the blow, Floyd drifted from consciousness once more.

* * *

Fawkes sighed and sat down on the bench where Floyd left him. "Where are you, my friend?" Fawkes said softly, letting out another sigh. He waited for time unknown, sighing and losing hope. After a couple of days, Fawkes knew something was wrong. He seized the initiative and decided to head to one of Floyd's regular haunts; the Dutchess Gambit.

Upon arriving, he saw a scene of utter carnage. Bodies and debris were strewn all over the place, some talon company mercs, some raiders and even a couple of super mutants. Fawkes gripped his Gatling laser cautiously and stepped warily towards the riverboat. There was no sign of anyone alive; his investigations of the top deck and passenger room yielded nothing.

On his second sweep, he lingered in the passenger cabin, where he heard a muted hasp from beneath the cot. Holstering his weapon Fawkes crouched and looked underneath the bed. Nadine let out a shriek of terror and burst into tears. Fawkes' eyes widened, he was perhaps more shocked than Nadine. "Don't fear. I am not here to hurt you. I am looking for my friend; he is called Floyd but often goes by 'The Lone Wanderer'. Perhaps you've seen him?" Nadine let out a sigh of relief, Floyd had often mentioned a friendly mutant he travelled with, though she always dismissed him as crazy. With Fawkes' help, she shuffled out from underneath the bed and wiped her face on the sleeve of her jacket.

"I know Floyd; I think I know where he's at too. He was here when all this happened." Nadine gestured to the carnage and took out a cigarette from her pocket. "I think he was the cause of all this actually..." She paused to exhale a cloud of smoke. "We was just coming back from Point Lookout, then when he got off the boat, these three guys jumped him, said they'd been paid to kill him.

"Well it didn't take Floyd long to get rid of them but then these guys who looked like you, only bigger showed up; Floyd told me to hide from them, I think he called them super overlords or somethin'. Anyway I ran in here, ducked under the bed and shut my eyes; I heard some explosions, some horrible screaming and then some shouting. I heard a voice, not Floyd's, shouting somethin' 'bout a church, then nothing, 'till you showed up."

"Where is this church?" Fawkes said curtly, as he stood up and checked his weapons.

"If memory serves, there's one north west of here. Please, if you find him... Let me know?"

"I am sure he will be well enough to tell you himself. Goodbye Miss, and be careful, the wasteland is a dangerous place." With that said, Fawkes began the long trudge towards the church where he hoped he would find his friend.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well done fancy suit, you've gone and killed him. Now were ain't never gonna' get paid."

"Stop with your attitude, before I kill _you_. We are in the house of God, show a little respect. And he isn't dead. He's just waking up now"

Floyd opened his eyes to see that now he was the right way up, and no longer chained to the ceiling. He coughed hoarsely, spitting some blood. The man in the suit was sat down before a pulpit reading a thick leather-bound tome. On the front of the book he noticed a crucifix etched into the leather. "Where am I?" Floyd asked, his voice coarse and quiet.

"All in due time Mr. Floyd. All in due time," the southern man drawled.

"Who are you?" Floyd growled. The man looked disappointed, as though he were hoping Floyd would be cooperative.

"My name is John Thompson," he sighed, "you may call me Mr. Thompson, and I am the man who is going to be paid 50,000 caps for your capture" Thompson answered with a smug grin.

"If it weren't for the money you wouldn't be in one piece; you'd be strung up all over Evergreen Mills" One of the raiders added.

"Well then... Bad move keeping me alive," Floyd smirked defiantly. He gathered all his might and tried to throw a punch. He couldn't move. Looking down he noticed he was strapped to a chair in nothing but his underwear.

"So you're kinky, eh?" Floyd joked. He was putting on his icy cool look, trying to make out that he wasn't fazed. He was, of course. He was in real trouble this time, but he'd be damned if he was going to show it. Thompson was offended. Slamming his bible closed, he strutted towards Floyd, and slammed his fist into Floyd's unprotected gut.

"Please, no more vulgarities within the walls of this sacred building." Thompson gestured to the walls around, while Floyd gasped for air; the blow had winded him. "Now Mr. Floyd it's only a matter of time until my contractors arrive to pick you up and we shall part. Since you clearly don't intend on keeping quiet, please tell me about yourself."

"Fuck you!" Floyd roared.

"Again with the profanities! Looks like I'm going to have to teach you some manners boy!" With that Thompson cut the wires holding Floyd down to the chair, picked him up by the hair and stood ready to fight. Floyd grinned, now he had a chance. Wasting no time, he tackled Thompson to the ground and, in a hot blooded moment of stupidity, head butted him. Floyd recoiled in pain, shook his head from side to side and by the time he realised what had happened Thompson was towering over him. Thompson had seen the head butt coming and raised his elbow. Floyd had caused more pain to himself.

"Bad idea," Thompson grinned coldly before stomping Floyd's thigh. For a fleeting moment Floyd thought Thompson had made a mistake in hitting him in the thigh; then the pain coursed through him and he let out an agonised scream. Floyd shuffled backwards against a wall, Thompson matching his movements with ease. The suited man drew back his harm for a mighty swing, but Floyd was quick enough to duck. Cracking his fist against the wall, Thompson grunted and then felt the full force of Floyd's knee in his stomach. The blow took away Thompson's breath and knocked him to the ground. Floyd grinned and stretched his neck and shoulders, before dealing a punishing kick to Thompson's jaw.

"Get him!" Thompson snarled, and the two raiders engaged Floyd. Armed with a pool cue, one of the raiders swung madly at Floyd to no avail. Missing every swing, the raider jabbed the cue towards Floyd's face. Floyd caught the thrust, and yanked the cue out of the raider's hands. Delivering a mighty boot to the raider's chest, Floyd snapped the cue in half. With one of the sharp bits of cue, Floyd skewered the second raider in the throat. He gargled weakly and fell to the ground. The remaining raider was trying to crawl away, fearing for his life. Floyd brought the second half of the cue down into his bare back, and twisted. The raider twitched in agony before falling limp.

Taking a moment to regain his breath, Floyd turned his attention once more to Thompson. To his ire, Thompson had disappeared, using the raiders as a distraction while he made good his escape. Floyd cursed, and searched the church for his gear. Uttering a thanks to nobody in particular, he found his things in a storage locker. Suiting up, he prepared himself for the trek home.

* * *

"There is a chapel just over that ridge you say? Thank you my brother" Fawkes said as he shook the hand of Uncle Leo, the only other friendly and educated super mutant in the capital wasteland.

"Be careful my brother. Some of our not so civilised brethren have been known to traverse the area," Uncle Leo warned before trudging about the wastes in search of further enlightenment. Fawkes clambered up the side of a rocky hill and saw the chapel before him. He drew his Gatling Laser and ran as fast as he could towards the building. Kicking the door inwards, he held down the button to spin the barrel of his weapon, ready to dispatch any hostile elements. The chapel was empty.

As he was scouring the place for signs of his friend, Fawkes saw a trail of blood leading towards a small store room. As he cautiously opened the door, he was greeted by two dead raiders, with opposing halves of a pool cue speared deep in their flesh. Fawkes continued searching the building in hope of finding his friend but found only an empty storage locker. Letting out a sigh Fawkes muttered under his breath, "where are you, my friend?" After his unsuccessful search, he decided it best to return to the Duchess Gambit

When Fawkes finally arrived at the riverboat he was surprised to see Nadine walking around happily aboard the ship. He stepped onto the riverboat and prepared to tell Nadine of his findings. Before he had the chance, Nadine bounded towards him and spoke."Why weren't you with him?" Nadine beamed happily.

"I do not understand," he said, puzzled, "with who?"

"Floyd of course!" She smiled. "He was here around four hours ago. Came to check up on me, and he said he better get back to Fawkes so I just said goodbye and left it. You don't know who Fawkes is do you?" asked Nadine. Fawkes sighed in reply, checking his weapons as he prepared to leave again. "Wait a minute... don't tell me you're Fawkes." Fawkes nodded. "Aww crap I wish I'd have known sooner. Sorry." Nadine apologised, "tell you what, just say where you're headed and I'll take you up the river."

"We must go to the Anchorage war memorial. That is where Floyd left me." Fawkes instructed before climbing the stairs to The Duchess Gambit's observation deck. Nadine took the helm and started the riverboat chugging up the Potomac. Fawkes enjoyed the slow cruise up the river, and watched as the familiar sights passed him by. As they approached the Citadel, Nadine shouted up to the mutant. "These Brotherhood fellers' like to shoot at your kind I think. Might be best you hide yourself in the passenger cabin." The mutant agreed without argument, realising that without Floyd by his side, there was nothing to distinguish him as a friend. As the boat passed by the Citadel, Fawkes could hear the sound of a distant firefight between super mutants and Brotherhood knights. _A good thing I stayed inside_, he thought.

Time passed and Fawkes felt the riverboat slow to a halt, as Nadine shouted that they had arrived. Fawkes said his thank you and stepped off the boat and onto the memorial. For a third time, Floyd was nowhere to be seen, though the recently dead Mirelurk in front of the entrance was compelling evidence that he had been there. Fawkes examined the corpse. The fatal wound was caused by a combat shotgun - Floyd's trademark weapon. Fawkes' thoughts were interrupted by a gravelly voice from the shadows. "Hey, you the smoothskin's friend?" a ghoulish wastelander asked. Fawkes guessed he was talking about Floyd, and nodded. "He said if we saw a super that didn't want to squeeze our skulls in, we should tell him he headed back to Megaton. Oh and, the 'lurk is ours to eat." Fawkes' eyes lit up. At last he would be reunited with his friend. He thanked the ghouls, and headed off towards Megaton; home.


	3. Chapter 3

Fawkes was greeted by a friendly Mr. Wadsworth. "Good morning sir. What can I do for you?" Wadsworth asked in a particularly cheery robotic voice.

"Recharge yourself Wadsworth, I shall see to our guest."

"Very well, sir." Wadsworth chimed, before hovering away to his recharging station. Floyd sat down, took a sip of Nuka Cola and began to tell Fawkes what had happened. "I was coming back from Point Lookout after a run of the mill punga fruit run, when I was jumped by some Talon mercs, no doubt hired by Tenpenny or anybody else I've crossed. It was easy enough to deal with them but the fire fight drew in some super mutant overlords from nearby.

"That was when I told Nadine to take cover. That fight was tougher, but my trusty power armour kept me safe," he patted the battle scarred suit of armour that lay neatly on his table, "after the muties were down I took some blood samples for Tristan. I was taking a sample when the raiders came, along with some strange guy in a suit. I got a few but there were too many and they knocked me out..."

The story continued, finishing at Floyd returning home. All the while Fawkes said nothing, nodding every now and then to show he was paying attention. The pair sat in silence for a moment, before a piercing tone burst from Mr. Wadsworth in the corner. The noise was almost deafening, but as soon as either of the pair had stood up it was over.

"What the hell was that?" Floyd shouted in confusion.

"That was the standardised tone for a message received on the Mr. Handy model."

"So someone sent me a message?" Floyd asked; he'd never even suspected such a thing was possible.

"That is indeed the case, my friend." Fawkes strode over to Wadsworth, removed a panel from his casing and began pressing buttons. Looking over Fawkes' shoulder, Floyd was fascinated by all of the features Wadsworth housed underneath his shell. Suddenly a voice sprang out of Wadsworth's speaker.

"Mr. Floyd." The voice said. "Mr. Floyd I know you must be at home if you're listening to this so I would like you to check the package outside your front door, now don't worry Mr. Floyd it isn't a booby trap... At least, not this time." The message ended with a menacing laugh and Floyd froze in thought.

"Who was that, my friend?" Fawkes asked.

"That was the bastard the kidnapped me. Mr. Thompson." Floyd replied before slowly walking towards the front door. Cautiously, Floyd opened the door and sprang out with his combat shotgun drawn. Looking around carefully, he was satisfied that nobody was about to ambush him. His weapon lowered, Floyd carefully brought the box inside.

After much careful studying, Fawkes deemed the box booby trap free, and gave the all clear for Floyd to open it. Floyd took a few deep breaths and tore off the lid of the package. Inside, there was a thick file, coated in grime and dust, labelled 'Johnson, F'. Floyd picked the file up and sat down, wondering what it could be. His initial thoughts were that Thompson had been gathering information on him for a while. Flicking through the pages, Floyd saw images of himself as a young Brotherhood of Steel initiate.

"This is wrong..." Floyd furrowed his brow, thinking. "I was never in the Brotherhood as an initiate. I was made an honorary member..."

Floyd carried on flicking the pages until he found a page that had obviously been repaired. It was covered in scorch marks and tape held bits of it together.

"_For Elder eyes only. Burn after reading_."

Intrigued by the first line, Floyd read on

"_This report concerns the memory implants of Johnson, F. It seems the entire procedure was a complete success, the subject has no memory whatsoever of growing up within the Brotherhood of Steel. The subject firmly believes that the implanted memories are his own and will pursue the man who he believes to be his father as soon as he wakes up. The subject will be transferred to the DC staging area via vertibird immediately. For Elder eyes only. Burn after reading."_

Floyd threw the the file away in disbelief. _What the hell did I just read?_ he thought. As he sat, trying to make sense of the information he'd received, the message tone rang out once more. Fawkes set the message playing.

"Mr. Floyd. I trust that you have read at least some of the file by now, so I am going to let you in on something. My contractors, the ones who hired me to, let us say acquire you, are not slavers from paradise falls. The ones who hired me are Elders for the Brotherhood of Steel in the Gulf Commonwealth, more specifically, New Alabama. Now would you kindly join me at the Citadel, so that I may explain in more detail what is happening. Oh and Mr. Floyd, don't keep me waiting too long." The southern drawl clearly belonged to Thompson again. Floyd was still trying to make sense of things.

After a time, Floyd stood up, and began to pack his rucksack, eating a punga fruit as he worked. "Get yourself ready Fawkes," he said, through a mouthful of punga, "we're heading to the Citadel." Fakes checked his weapons, as Floyd donned his power armour, and the pair set off to the Citadel.

* * *

The journey to the Citadel proved no challenge to Floyd and Fawkes. With a few bloatflies to kill and a friendly pack of wild dogs, the journey was over as quick as it had begun, but what Floyd and Fawkes found at the Citadel was astonishing. More knights and paladins than Floyd had ever seen in one place and most of them in strange, newer looking power armour.

"Get down!" a knight bellowed at Floyd and brought a laser rifle up to his eye. "There's a mutie behind ya'!" Floyd quickly put his hands up and told the knight that Fawkes was peaceful. The knight was quick to disbelieve him.

"If I see any funny business..." The knight ended his sentence by glaring at Fawkes and running his finger along his throat. Floyd was offended. The wanderer grabbed the knight by the neck, brandishing his shotgun and warning him coldly, "you try anything, and you'll wind up in Vault 87. Clear?"

The knight took a hard swallow of air before replying. "C-c-Crystal clear."

"Good." Floyd spat before pushing the knight away. Pushing his way past the crowd that had gathered Floyd heard an all too familiar sound. Vertibirds. He gripped his combat shotgun and began to scan the skies in preparation for a fight. Nobody else flinched, and some of them began to give him strange looks. It took him a moment, but he worked out why, and relaxed. The vertibirds had been liberated by the Brotherhood, all of them bearing the Brotherhood mark. Something about these birds was off, however. They weren't painted like the ones Floyd had seen, they were painted in light olive greens much like the strange new power armour he could see all around him. Floyd rushed into the Bailey. He needed to know what was going on.

The Bailey itself full to bursting with olive green power armour, and it was difficult to move through the crowds. Floyd noticed the firing ranges were full of strange new effigies, Brotherhood initiates were using weapons unknown. Suddenly, Floyd heard Sarah Lyons' voice soaring from deep within the crowd, desperately trying to organise things. Following the sweet sound of her voice, Floyd pushed past the exotic new knights and paladins in their fancy armour, until at last he saw her. Standing in the midst of the crowd, clipboard in hand, she looked ragged from work. "Sarah, what's going on here?" he asked.

Sarah turned to face him, dropping her clipboard. She looked as though she'd seen a ghost. Her lip trembled as she gazed at him. _Shit._ Floyd had forgotten his promise. Months ago he had left the Citadel on an expedition to the Pitt, and promised he'd be back in two weeks. Well it had been at least three months now and Floyd hadn't been to the Citadel since. Sarah pulled off his helmet, wanting to see his face. He had rough five o'clock shadow now, and a new scar on his cheek. Rage flashed in her eyes, as she slapped him across the face. "Sarah, I'm so sorry-" he was cut off as she planted a kiss on his lips.

"You came back," she sighed with relief, before remembering where she was and pushing him away, picking up her clipboard. "Now, I need you to organise squads D to O around the interior of the Bailey, without blocking doors or major pathways, then you need to get outside to the entrance and organise squads R to Z in defensive positions around the citadel without blocking civilian paths," she paused for breath, "And then, after all that's done you need to meet me in my quarters," she smiled prettily, and then dashed off to start organising things. Floyd glanced at the sky, dusk was already falling, and organising this rabble in the dark would be difficult.

By the time Floyd, with the help of Fawkes, had finished organising all the squads as he'd been ordered to, it was dark and he'd grown thirsty. Normally at this time of day, Floyd would have gone to Moriarty's to get a fresh beer from Gob. Here in the Citadel, there was no such luxury, so he had to make due with some aqua pura. Floyd told Fawkes to report to Scribe Rothchild to see if he could be of any help, before setting off to Sarah's quarters.

Walking down the halls of the Citadel towards the Den, Floyd was grabbed by Sarah. "Where are you going?" She asked with a grin.

"I was just heading to the Den to find you like you ask-" Floyd was interrupted by Sarah.

"My quarters are in the Solar now. That means no more sneaking around while we're supposed to be on duty." Sarah said smiling. She led Floyd to her quarters and shut the door to the Solar behind her.

Fawkes was wandering around the Citadel after being told to sleep before he started work. Walking past the Solar, Fawkes heard muffled giggling and moaning coming from the room. He paused for a second, swearing that he had heard Floyd's voice. A moment passed, and Fawkes decided that it wouldn't be Floyd in there, he was too diligent a worker to be spending the night with a female.

As he continued down the hallway, he met Paladin Tristan, who eyed him suspiciously. "Hello Fawkes... What brings you to the Citadel today?"

"Floyd was summoned here. I need a place to sleep. Where are the beds?" Fawkes replied curtly, there was no love lost between these two. Tristan wanted to exterminate the super mutants, and only tolerated Fawkes because Lyons ordered it.

"The Barracks is just down that hall, you can't miss it. You have an uneventful night. And dream of... Whatever Super Mutants dream of... What do you dream of?"

"Books, mostly," Fawkes replied before striding past the bemused Tristan.

* * *

In the morning, Floyd awoke with Sarah's fidgeting. "What's the matter?" he asked softly, brushing a strand of blonde hair out of her face. Her eyes were glossy as she answered.

"I thought you were dead... After my father, I couldn't bear to..." she couldn't continue. Floyd wiped away a tear as it rolled down her cheek. He had heard about her father, Elder Lyons' death. He felt guilty for not coming sooner, but things had gotten messy. When he returned from the Pitt he'd stopped by Paradise Falls to free the slaves and kill the slavers. Eulogy Jones had convinced him to spare his life, and had since hired mercenaries to track and kill him in revenge. Floyd had decided it best to avoid the Citadel for fear of bringing war to the Brotherhood's doorstep. They had grown fewer in number and were vulnerable to attack, though nobody had known it.

Sarah was the Elder now, and it seemed surreal to Floyd, that he was sharing her bed, comforting _her, _the fearless leader of the Lyons' Pride. "I'm here to stay this time," he whispered in her ear, as he held her tightly.


End file.
